The Maybot: Artificial, yes. Intelligent, no

Being a lifelong Conservative voter I naturally wanted to give prime minister Theresa May the benefit of the doubt. Sadly she has become a figure of derision both at home and abroad. The description of her as naturally robotic, hence “The Maybot”, is all too appropriate.

"The Maybot has clearly been programmed by the CBI and company"

AD

Like dogs do robots attract one another? In her case it certainly seems so, since she has fallen under the influence of that other cabinet robot, one chancellor Phillip Hammond.

The Treasury has been staffed by defeatists for as long as I can remember (since you ask, about 1967) and the prospect of negativity over Brexit has had Hammond and company slavering.

Maxfac? Oh no we can’t possibly deliver that in time. Blockchain-enabled export/ import accounting? Don’t be silly. Take Barnier and Brussels at face value? Absolutely. Bend over backwards to accommodate the apparent wishes of the political head of a tiny country (Southern Ireland, population 4.7 million) that has some agricultural products wondering back and forth? Naturally.

An intelligent leader would by now have realised that the events in the EU have aligned to make Brexit more desirable than ever. But not the Maybot. Since the Referendum:

The German electorate have told German chancellor Angela Merkel that the EU is broken.

The French have elected a president that dreams of unattainable French hegemony.

Southern EU states are in open rebellion against Brussels austerity requirements.

Northern European states want to put a stop to further Brussels integration.

Ex Eastern bloc states together with Italy and Austria are determined to put a stop to free movement of migrants.

Austria and Lunchtime O’Booze Juncker have decided it is time to embrace Russian president Vladimir Putin’s gangster regime.

Only a fool would not be able to gain the upper hand in Brexit negotiations against this background. Unfortunately in May we have precisely that, an artificial robot with limited intelligence.

So, apart from the Treasury, who amongst the real power in our country remains doggedly determined to defeat Brexit? Step forward big business. If you spent millions year in ,year out, building up a comprehensive lobby support structure in Brussels, which enabled you to carry on your cosy existence you’d want to defend the status quo wouldn’t you?

The Maybot has clearly been programmed by the CBI and company to be terrified of the possible ending of tariff free trading with EU member states.

Accordingly, she has become incapable of grasping the fact that EU tariffs average 5%, which is about how much Sterling moves in any six month period. To sacrifice taking back control of our future on the altar of such old fashioned entrenched interests is not acceptable to thinking humans.

A robot, a bureaucracy, or any other artificial construct can’t understand. The Maybot has been given her chance by the Conservative party. She has failed . She must now be ousted.

Sajid Javid, accompanied by Messrs Davis, Johnson and Fox, should deliver the message. Will they have the courage to do so? People respect strength, none more so than Brussels. Get on with it

Share with your network

About Author

The City Grump, having recently turned 64, has spent north of 30 years in the City of London. He started as a stockbroker's analyst but after some years he decided he was too grumpy to continue with the sell side of things so he moved to the buy side and became a fund manager for the next 20 years, selling his own business in the 1990s. Post the millennium, he found himself in turn chairing a stockbroker, a financial PR company, and an Exchange. He still keeps his hand in, chairing a brace of VCTs and investing personally in startups.

According to a new survey from the Fraser of Allander Institute, the economic research think tank at the University of Strathclyde, 33% of Scottish firms believe Brexit has had a negative impact on investment and recruitment.

When I set up Pimlico Plumbers in 1979, plumbing didn’t have the best reputation, plagued by cowboys turning up in rusty vans. I had to change this perception if I was to stand any chance of winning, and keeping, work.